Aligarh: Dr. Taher H. Pathan, In-charge, Marathi Section, Department of Modern Indian Languages, Aligarh Muslim University delivered a lecture on "Sant Tukaram's Poetry and Narsinh Mehta" in a National Seminar on "Sant Sahitya Utsav," organized by Sahitya Akademi, in collaboration with Rupayatan, Junagadh, Gujarat.

He said that the Bhakti movement is the most brilliant creative outburst of the Indian psyche of this millennium and Sant Tukaram is the Maharashtrian icon of the moderate tradition of Bhakti who, after getting Nirvana, became the most revered figure of his time.

He said that Sant Tukaram's place in Marathi is similar to that of the early poet Narsinh Mehta in Gujarat. Tukaram enriched us with 'Abhang' whereas Narsinh Mehta enriched Gujarati language and culture by composing 'Padas'. Narsinh Mehta has written many compositions in different genres. Saint Namdev influenced Narsinh Mehta in Marathi. His popularity comes from the verses in the Marathi language that appear in his poetry.